Hillbrow Tower

Africa's tallest structure is in the skyscraper-rich city of Johannesburg, in the suburb of Hillbrow to be exact. The Hillbrow Tower stands at 883 feet and has held the title of Africa's tallest tower for 40 years.

The Hillbrow Tower was completed in 1971, and was at one time the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. It lost that designation in 1978 when a chimney in Queensland, Australia was built to be two feet taller. The structure is technically called the Telkom Jo'burg Tower, after the telecommunications company for whom it was initially built.

The distinctive Hillbrow Tower is one of the symbols of Johannesburg – it was decorated with an enormous soccer ball during the 2010 World Cup. The tower was closed to visitors in 1981, which is too bad for anyone who appreciates soaring views – the tower was once one of the city's top tourist draws, and one of the top floors even had a revolving restaurant.

Since the Hillbrow Tower was closed, the furnishings in the high-end restaurants and observation deck in the upper floors have been removed and are in the Telkom buildings in Pretoria. Some of the building is now used by Telkom for office space.